Digimon - The Movie (1999)

25% of critics liked it
(40 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(19,633 ratings)

While some children spend their summer vacation playing ball or going to the beach, seven kids use their free time to help save the world in this feature-length animated adventure adapted from the popular television series. While attending summer camp, a group of kids playing with computers are… More While some children spend their summer vacation playing ball or going to the beach, seven kids use their free time to help save the world in this feature-length animated adventure adapted from the popular television series. While attending summer camp, a group of kids playing with computers are transported into a digital universe, where they make friends with the Digital Monsters, or Digimon, creatures of the electronic world who can transform themselves into more advanced beings at will. However, while the children have been befriended by good Digimon, there are also evil Digimon, and a ruthless Internet Digimon is ravenously swallowing up communications data from around the world. The Internet Digimon has the potential to take over worldwide communications -- including military weapons-launch technology -- if the good Digimon and their human friends cannot stop its schemes. Digimon: The Movie was adapted from two shorter Japanese films using the Digimon characters, and was prepared for U.S. release by the same team who Americanized the original Japanese anime series Dejimon Adobencha. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Mamoru Hosada, Shigeyasu Yamauchi
Written By: Bob Bucholz, Jeff Nimoy
Genres: Action & Adventure, Animation, Anime & Manga, Art House & International, Kids & Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Oct 6, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Feb 6, 2001
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter
Overall, it's a pleasantly bearable experience.
Sean Means, Film.com
Parents, if you don't want to compete with popular culture to raise your child ... this is where you draw the line in the sand.
Bruce Fretts, Entertainment Weekly
With its migraine-inducing laser showdowns and puerile gags ... Digimon almost makes you nostalgic for the relative sophistication of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Susan Stark, Detroit News
As noisy, chaotic, cheesy and crassly commercial a product as has ever been put on the big screen.
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
Can be surprisingly smart and lively in its early going, thanks to some cheeky, well-written humor, a genuine sense of excitement and topical ties to the Internet.
Loren King, Boston Globe
What is particularly unappealing and troublesome about the feature is that it is a video game barely disguised as a movie.
Paul Trandahl, Common Sense Media
If you love Digimon, here's more. No surprises.
Steve Rhodes, Internet Reviews
The film's animation is second rate with dull colors and fuzzy drawing. Neither this, nor the lackluster music, can compensate for the story's confusion.

Read all 8 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Spencer S

For those who grew up in the 90's you were either all about the Pokemon or Digimon. Digimon, the more complicated and highly evolved form of digital monsters kept many entertained, and this darker movie adaptation was not only greatly anticipated and loved, but just a plain win.… More
For those who grew up in the 90's you were either all about the Pokemon or Digimon. Digimon, the more complicated and highly evolved form of digital monsters kept many entertained, and this darker movie adaptation was not only greatly anticipated and loved, but just a plain win. Good to watch if you want to stroll down memory lane.
Michael E

though most adults on this whole website may not fully appreciate the movie its crazy plot off the wall violence and wierd creatures but remember it is a movie based on an anime kids show which i grew up with may i add, This show was the best show of the 90s and 2000s for all kids… More
though most adults on this whole website may not fully appreciate the movie its crazy plot off the wall violence and wierd creatures but remember it is a movie based on an anime kids show which i grew up with may i add, This show was the best show of the 90s and 2000s for all kids alongside pokemon but now the show has just gone down the crapper with the 5th series data squad. But the first second and third seasons were great. Digimon adventure is basically the start of the digimon franchise with all the main characters being introduced, the second series digimon adventure 02 takes place right after the first series so think of it as a sequel to the first series because it has all the same characters plus a few new ones in it all grown up. So as you could have imagined the show was a huge hit so it spawned a movie and when the movie came out it was one of the most anticipated anime films to come out at the time second next to pokemon the first movie mewtwo vs mew, but instead of a double feature you got a triple feature with this movie (quadruple feature if you count the short film). It starts out with a short angela anaconda short film to prove that fox still had life back then and then it starts out but its kind of like a prequel to the first series of digimon since it starts out with Tai and Kari when they are very little and they meet koromon who starts out as botamon. It basically follows the format where the children find a monster or something and they try to keep it a secret kind of like the iron giant and E.T. But then It gets bigger and turns into a monster escapes goes on a rampage then a digi-egg appears in the sky and out comes parrotmon where agumon digivolves into greymon and f*cking annihilates parrotmon with his nova flame but then he disappears. How could you get more epic than a film like that starting out. But then it goes into an even more epic story about Tai and Izzy finding a digimon nesting into a computer as a virus it gets stronger and stronger so they decide to send in agumon and tentomon to stop the data stealing digimon by digivolving into their champion forms, but they are no match because it skips digivolution from champion to ultimate. It basically destroys them in battle not physically but almost. If you want to see the whole thing i dont want to ruin the plot but its definetly a wonderful and awe inspiring action anime film if your a fan of the series or not your going to love it
Sanjaya &

pretty good..
Dillon L

It is better than Pokemon. Slightly better.
Steven V

It's a pretty great movie. I love the original version of the clips in this movie. I suggest you watch the Japanese version. You will see no corny catch phrases added and names and terms altered in the American version.